“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”
Well, no, it was just:
The worst of times
It was the age of foolishness.
It’s 735 BC, or thereabouts: Ahaz reigns on the throne in Judah.
Judah is surrounded by enemies on all sides: Edomites to the south; Philistines to the west.
Most painful of all (because they were ‘brethren’) Israel to the north has entered into a coalition with her own northern neighbour, Syria. Syria has already taken Elath, Judah’s seaport on the Gulf of Aqabah (2 Kings 16:6), “a huge economic and commercial loss”.
Now, Israel is in league with Syria, and together they are conspiring to coerce Judah to join their coalition, but as the lackey of those two superior powers.
The purpose of such a coalition is to counter the growing might of the Evil Empire to the far north: Assyria.
But “a man without a plan, is not a man” and Ahaz is a man with a plan.
Rather than join the coalition against the Evil Empire, Ahaz is actually negotiating with Assyria for help against the more immediate threat of this coalition.
So Ahaz sends back word to the Israelite-Syrian axis: “I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your request. Means ‘No’.”
They, in turn, are disinclined to accept rejection. They now plot together to overcome Judah with shock and awe, remove Ahaz, and replace him with their own puppet king.
Things are looking grim. (Read about it in Isaiah ch 7.)
Then: Isaiah, the prophet, appears.
Isaiah tells Ahaz, from the Lord, to trust the Lord – else, “If you will not trust [lit. “remain firm”], you will not be made firm.” (v 9)
This is all about trusting the Lord.
Further, Isaiah offers Ahaz a blank cheque from the Lord: “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God. Ask anything – make it as unbelievable as you like.” (v 11)
But Ahaz doesn’t need the Lord; he already has a plan – he has Assyria on his side (or, hopes he soon will).
So, with a great pretence of piety, he replies: “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” (v 12)
Exasperated, Isaiah responds: “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?”
Then he prophesies that God will provide His own unbelievable sign: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,
and shall call His name Immanuel.”
What is going on here?
We know this sign-prophecy was fulfilled in Christ. (Matthew 1:23)
So how can it be a sign to Ahaz, more than seven centuries before Jesus appeared?
Were there two virgin births?
As well as Jesus’ own virgin birth, was there another – or, at least a “virgin-type” birth (whatever that would mean) – back in Ahaz’s day?
If so, how was such a sign meant to be an encouragement to him and those who followed him back then?
For that matter, why would God even be giving him a sign of encouragement in view of his obvious duplicity and unbelief?
What we see in this passage is that the sign of the virgin birth was indeed meant to be an encouragement to those who followed the Lord in those dark days.
But to Ahaz and his band of merry men it was nothing of the kind.
Rather, to him, and them, it was a sign of God’s judgment, not of blessing.
Look at the text:
Back in v 6 we hear the Israelite-Syrian axis boasting: “Let us go up against Judah and tear it up, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”. (v 6)
Israel and Syria were hell-bent on “tearing up” Judah.
Isaiah then appears, appealing to Ahaz to stand firm in trusting the Lord. But Ahaz fails miserably.
So, following Ahaz’s profession of unbelief, Isaiah prophesies the coming of a Child, born of a virgin.
The question is: When will this take place?
Isaiah answers that question in v 16: “Before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you are tearing up will be forsaken by both her kings.” (v 16)
The NKJV translates this as “…the land that you dread…”. implying that the reference is to the land/s of Israel and Syria.
But as Ralph Davis points out, it is “land” (sing.), not “lands” (plur.) In any case, the root of the same verb is translated to “tear up” back in v 6; so it is reasonable to translate it similarly in v 16.
Isaiah is telling Ahaz it is not his northern ‘neighbours’ who are “tearing up” his land. Ahaz has already accomplished that through his own disastrous policies.
So, Isaiah is not encouraging Ahaz to believe both Israel and Syria will soon be destroyed; or that this will take place before the promised virgin-born child comes to the age of discretion.
Rather Isaiah is prophesying that the Promised Land of Judah-Israel (which can be considered one land, unlike the two lands of Israel and Syria) will in the future be “forsaken by both her kings”. Times of judgment and exile are coming: first for Israel which will be deported by Assyria; then, more than a century later, for Judah, which will be deported by Babylon.
All this must come to pass “before” the promised Child of the virgin birth will appear.
So, no, there will be no virgin-type birth fulfilment in Ahaz’s day – or any time soon.
There will be no virgin-birth type deliverance in Ahaz’s day.
Only judgment upon the land, well before the promised Child shall appear.
Judgment
There will be a temporary respite for Judah, facing the Israelite-Syrian axis.
Those in that coalition will get their comeuppance at the hands of Assyria. (vv 7-8)
But then “the Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you [Ahaz]and your people [Judah] and your father’s house.” (v 17)
Ahaz refused to trust the Lord; he didn’t believe God’s Word.
He chose instead to trust in the might of the Evil Empire to come to his aid.
But, once the Evil Empire had dispatched Syria and Israel, they would turn on Judah.
The irony of this could not have escaped those whose misplaced trust was in Assyria.
Immanuel is not deliverance to those who will not believe. (v 9)
To those who will not believe, Immanuel means judgment.
There is a warning here for us not to pin our hopes on princes and politicians. (See also Psalm 146:3-4)
There are good princes and politicians; they deserve our support – I don’t mean to be cynical. Nor am I suggesting we should not pursue political solutions where we can do so without compromise. Though remember that even the best of men are but men at best.
But in our day when we see the Establishment becoming more and more anti-Christian, we need to beware of pinning our hopes on a strong leader just because he is ready to take on the Establishment.
Sometimes this may mean the odd win for Christian values – we thank God for that.
But, while we thank God to see a godless axis routed (vv 7-8), we dare not pin our hopes on the godless agent God uses to do the routing (vv 18-20; also 8:7).
Blessing
But what about those in Judah at the time who did believe?
What about the faithful remnant who would suffer, along with unbelievers, throughout these dark days?
Was there any comfort for them, in the prophecy of a virgin-born Child, even though its fulfilment lay in the dim, distant future?
The defiant cry of this faithful remnant, as they go through such dark days, confronted by the onslaught of godless enemies, must be the words of ch 8, vv 9-10.
(I am using Ralph Davis’s rendering of these words.)
Do your worst, O peoples, and be shattered.
Listen, all distant places of the earth.
Get yourselves ready and be shattered!
Get yourselves ready and be shattered!
Hatch a plan – and it will be frustrated.
Speak the word – and it will never stand.
For… Immanuel: God is with us!
For the faithful remnant in Isaiah’s day, Immanuel was nowhere to be seen. Nor would He be seen for another seven centuries.
For the faithful remnant today, Christ may be nowhere to be seen. His coming again lies some time (however soon or far away that might be) in the dim, distant future.
But God’s people in all ages take comfort in knowing: Immanuel, God is with us.
The Lord’s Christ may not yet have appeared. But He already owns and cares for those who are truly His.
Meanwhile, the plans of those who oppose God’s kingdom will be frustrated, they will never stand.
Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Christ, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Psalm 2:1-4
Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst
Isaiah 12:6
That is all our comfort.
“Do your worst, O peoples!”
But “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:32)
For I am persuaded that:
– neither death nor life,
– nor angels nor principalities nor powers,
– nor things present nor things to come,
– nor height nor depth,
– nor any other created thing,
…shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
– Romans 8:38-39
“For the faithful remnant, Immanuel is not only a King to come, but a truth to live by in the present moment. It is the secret of their steadfastness.” (Ralph Davis)
Footnote: I am indebted to Ralph Davis for the general understanding of Isaiah ch 7 in this post, and as set out in his commentary: Stump Kingdom – Isaiah 6-12.